Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Director of Adult Services.

The Council have commissioned Signpost for Carers to deliver an All Age Carers strategy for the Stockport Locality. The Think Carer Strategy is a plan for Stockport as a place and a community. The intention is that it will become the focus for work to improve recognition of and support for carers in Stockport over the next 5 years and will help to guide services across Adult Social Care, the NHS as well as charities, the education sector, employers and many other local services. The strategy is aligned to the ambitions described within the One Heart section of the Borough Plan, the One Health and Care plan and the Neighbourhoods and Prevention programme.

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to comment on and note the report.

Officer contact: Emma Bowe by email: emma.bowe@stockport.gov.uk or Julia Hewer by email: julia@signpostforcarers.org.uk  

The Director of Adult Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) presenting the Think Carer Strategy which was a plan for Stockport as a place and a community. The intention was that it would become the focus for work to improve recognition of and support for carers in Stockport over the next 5 years and would help to guide services across Adult Social Care, the NHS as well as charities, the education sector, employers and many other local services. The strategy was aligned to the ambitions described within the One Heart section of the Borough Plan, the One Health and Care plan and the Neighbourhoods and Prevention programme.

The Cabinet Member for Health & Adult Social Care (Councillor Keith Holloway) attended the meeting to respond to questions from the Scrutiny Committee.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

·         Members welcomed the strategy and commented on the importance of quality support for carers in Stockport.

·         In response to a question around the short-term respite provision, it was commented that a key message from the carer survey was that the offer around respite needed to be personalised to the individual and the challenge was how to offer that personalised approach, thinking about resources and how to use the resources in the best way to benefit more carers.

·         In relation to the survey results around the proportion of carers who were satisfied with their experience of care and support within the North West, it was noted that Stockport had the lowest proportion which underlined the need for the Think Carer Strategy.

·         It was noted that there was work ongoing to improve the respite offer and ensure that people knew what was available.

·         Members queried the decision to include young carers with adult carers, noting the differences in their needs.

·         In response, it was commented that carers and Signpost for Carers which represented all age groups did not want two separate offers for young carers and adult carers as they wanted to ensure a consistent approach with standard principles recognising that the needs of individuals were different depending on where they were in the different age groups.

·         It was noted that being a carer can bring a great deal of fulfilment and the training, support and respite care provided from the Council’s Shared Lives Scheme was fundamental in supporting carers across Stockport.

·         It was commented that better relationships with the Council, NHS and Jobcentre would be beneficial for carers.

·         It was queried how schools could be encouraged to identify and address the issues around young carers.

·         In response, it was commented that the partnership board would represent organisations such as the Council, NHS and voluntary sector partners who had influence and that the sub-group who were looking at young carers would be able to effect some change with the people who had oversight of schools. It was noted that part of delivering the strategy was about raising the profile of caring and there were mechanisms in the partnership to influence and increase the publicity and communication around the needs and recognition of carers.

·         It was suggested that training around the identification of and support for young carers be offered to schools.

·         It was noted that black and minority ethnic groups are often underrepresented and queried how this would be taken into consideration as part of the identification and engagement work.

·         In response, it was commented that, as part of the priorities that have been set by the Carers Partnership Board, outreach work with those communities would be undertaken and would included the neighbourhood work in terms of the awareness of the local population in the neighbourhood which would support the service in identifying where those conversations were needed.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.